There's A Big Difference Between States Embracing Obamacare And Those Who Aren't

The rate of uninsured is dropping significantly more in states that have set up their own insurance exchanges and have expanded the federal Medicaid program, according to a new survey from Gallup released Wednesday morning.

States that had chosen to set up their own exchanges and expand Medicaid already had lower uninsured rates to begin with, but the new data shows the disparity widening.

According to the data, the uninsured rate in states that have both set up their own exchanges in the health-insurance marketplace and expanded Medicaid dropped to 13.6% in the first quarter of 2014. That was a 2.5% year-over-year drop.

But the rate of uninsured in states that have either not set up their own exchanges or expanded Medicaid stands at 17.9%. That's only a 0.8% decline from the same first-quarter period last year.

Overall, 24 states have declined to expand the Medicaid program. Only 17 states and the District of Columbia have set up their own exchanges.

Here's a chart from Gallup:

Gallup

The Congressional Budget Office said Monday about 12 million net people had gained insurance coverage through programs established by the Affordable Care Act, including federal and state insurance marketplaces and Medicaid expansion. The expansion of Medicaid accounted for about 7 million of the gains. A RAND Corp. study released last week said about 6 million net people had gained coverage through Medicaid expansion. According to the CBO, the uninsured rate fell to 16%.

The CBO also projected 19 million people will gain coverage by 2015, 25 million more by 2016, and 26 million more by 2026. The CBO also projects 19 million people will gain coverage by 2015, 25 million more by 2016, and 26 million more by 2026.

The Obama administration has spent much of the past two weeks trumpeting the law in spite of a disastrous rollout. Former Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, who resigned last week, said 7.5 million people had enrolled in plans through the exchanges by the end of the law's first open-enrollment period on March 31.